Waltek Inc., located in Ramsey, MN, experienced a fire in July 2022, that originated in its autoclave and wax reclaim department and quickly spread to other areas of the facility. Fortunately, no one was injured, and everyone was able to exit safely. The damage, however, has left the company unable to continue normal operations in its wax, assembly, shell, autoclave, and foundry areas. Waltek’s finishing operations are currently being relocated on site and will be operational soon, but half of the facility was destroyed along with some key pieces of equipment including its steel and aluminum foundries. Insurance and contractors are working quickly, and Waltek will rebuild the damaged part of the facility in the coming months.

“We are so thankful that no one was injured, that was my number one concern. Our Plant Manager, Dan Linder, and his team of supervisors and leads acted fast and got everyone to safety”, said Jim Bartel, CEO. News travels fast, and within days people across the industry – suppliers, other investment casting companies, and customers – were reaching out to see how they could help. “The outpouring of support has been terrific, and the ICI has played a key role in facilitating connections for us. We are well underway with our outsourcing plan, thanks to the strong desire of people to help and a lot of hard work on behalf of many Waltek employees. We will be subcontracting with industry partners to ‘get parts into metal’ for us,” Bartel said, “then bring parts back to Waltek for all the finishing operations and other outside services before shipping to customers.”

Bartel and other members of the Waltek team will be attending the ICI conference in Anaheim, CA, and welcome the opportunity to meet with other potential partners, suppliers, or others who would like to offer any advice as they navigate through this incredibly challenging time. You can contact Jim Bartel directly at jbartel@waltekinc.com.

About WALTEK
Waltek is a Minnesota based investment casting company, serving customers for almost 53 years. It is ISO 9001:2005 certified and a trusted partner to OEMs in the medical, aerospace, power sports, and general industrial and commercial markets. Capabilities include pouring carbon and stainless steel, and aluminum alloys, and working with customers from prototype to production. “Parts the size of your fist or smaller” are a great fit for Waltek, with medium to high annual production quantities. Waltek has casting facilities in Minnesota and machining operations located in Ohio.